Read this week's message from Father Don
Dear parishioners,
Please donate to Project Advance 2023. So far, 100 parishioners have donated and we are half-way to our goal of $150,000. The money will be used for building maintenance expenses and the salaries of parish employees.
Recently a parishioner asked me “why are we hiring additional parish staff ?” Here is why…
The Church in the western world is in crisis. Many Catholics, especially young people, have left the Church and contemporary society is often hostile to the faith. To address this situation, dioceses and parishes need to work diligently to engage with parishioners, the fallen away, and non-believers. They must offer special events and special programs for this purpose, and train leadership teams to direct these new initiatives.
Coordinating these pastoral efforts requires new employees. At All Saints we have created two new departments, adult faith formation and young family formation, and a lot of time and energy is devoted to their initiatives.
Another reason we need additional employees is that our society has become much more complex than it was 50 years ago. New technology, new statutory requirements from both the government and the church, new administrative processes, new expectations from the diocese - these all add to the administrative burden on parishes which, in turn, requires them to hire more administrative staff.
Parishes can no longer function with one priest, a secretary, a house-keeper and a janitor. There is far too much to be done, both administratively and pastorally. Our staff work very hard to build up the parish, often to the point of exhaustion.
Please pray for the staff and contribute financially to the hiring of new employees. Together we can do great things at All Saints.
Love
Fr Don